the lakers have just pooped their big-boy pants: 2012-2013 NBA regular season thread (part 2)

the reason people advocate for underhand FTs is that they think from a fundamental perspective that it is an easier shot

http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/images_root/gallery_images/photos/000/525/146/GYI0061895824_crop_450x500.jpg?1286032658

the thing about the underhand shot is there's no reason to believe dwight or anyone would be any better that way than he is now. shooting free throws....is not that hard. i was 3-3 today. dwight would probably suck underhand too

also it's a reputation thing, no one wants to be the guy who shoots free throws granny style

― manti 乒乓 (k3vin k.), Sunday, January 27, 2013 6:34 PM (12 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

No reason to think that except 1) overhand obviously isn't getting it done; and, 2) the angle from an underhanded FT is way more conducive to going in. Shooting free throws isn't hard once you've instituted a routine that works; there are quite a few high-profile players who for whatever reason have never found a shooting routine that worked.

Feel like the rep thing is a bit of a red herring and that it lies much more w/ no middle-school coaches ever having the balls to teach underhanded free throw shooting, and it's hard to imagine many coaches who atm would be totally cool with some grade-schooler just str8 grannying it during games. By the time players are at college / NBA, I'm sure it's tough to make such a drastic shooting change. That said, I'd bet that it would only take a year at most to become a dedicated and accurate underhander.

you're a random and baseless idea, matt armstrong

idk man you ever try shooting a tennis ball? it's haaaaard

and fyi I haven't even read any thinkpieces about freethrow shooting that talk hand size

in conclusion youre a poopyhead

But yeah basically Newtonian physics says that Dwightmare would hit his FTs at a higher %.

and fyi I haven't even read any thinkpieces about freethrow shooting that talk hand size

― 乒乓, Sunday, January 27, 2013 11:54 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

neither have I, I've only heard it from announcers and homers trying to defend Rondo or Shaq

these guys are just lazy, you really think they're getting on board with revamping their entire style?

I think underhand FT shooting is an interesting idea for guy who basically never shoot jumpers (Biedrins, Shaqtus). Since they never shoot jumpers in games and basically have no capacity for it, why not teach them to do something that is a more natural muscle movement?

http://youtubedoubler.com/?video1=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DGUI1lWzFlVc&start1=10&video2=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dhb4MPVHd-XQ&start2=6&authorName=

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BBp97kNCYAAhe3m.jpg

not fooling anyone you guys

didn't realize Portland and the clippers were playing a home/away back to back. How often does that happen?

I feel like each team does that with another team at least once per season

these guys are just lazy, you really think they're getting on board with revamping their entire style?

― manti 乒乓 (k3vin k.), Sunday, January 27, 2013 7:08 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

If they understood that those extra FT points should probably translate to more wins / more ppg / a few extra million in contract dollars, then it seems like it'd be worth a bad FT shooter to revamp his style.

plenty of bad FT shooters work hard on it. Even Dwight Howard supposedly puts up a ton of attempts, he just doesn't take advice or radically alter his form because he's stubborn.

yeah those dudes work hard at their FTs, and they also work hard at their baby hooks, footwork, etc. which they all get much better at? dunno what the difference is

I kinda base the big hands theory off my own experience growing up playing with like, volleyballs and mini basketballs or tennis balls when you couldn't get a real full size basketball - they definitely become much harder to control w/ a shooting motion the smaller the ball gets - try it sometime

I've played with a women's-sized basketball several times (sometimes it's the only ball in the gym) and didn't notice any difference in control.

A pitcher can throw a baseball into a space the size of a shoebox at 90mph with spin; being able to wrap your hand around the ball is a positive.

it doesn't compute that hand size is such a positive for NFL QBs but somehow makes controlling a basketball harder.

women's bballs are not that much smaller

a football is a different shape

let's just agree to disagree

a pitching motion is a fundamentally different motion than that of shooting a bball

urrrrrrrrrghhhhhhgshghsghsglkfgsjg;s

compupost this is all your fault

a pitching motion is a fundamentally different motion than that of shooting a bball

― 乒乓, Sunday, January 27, 2013 6:01 PM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

"let's just agree to disagree" (posts again)

this is a dumb argument, no one will ever shoot underhand whether it works or not. get over it imo

someone will try it again someday

Barry convinced one of his teammates to do it and it worked. And Wilt tried it. Someone will be desperate enough to give it a shot.

if Chuck Hayes can handle the embarrassment of shooting FTs the way he does, then surely someone can handle Grannies

sorry matt your comparisons were just so idiotically stupid I had to post again

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/9627011/photos/micdrop.gif

look, no one in the NBA is about to be the dude to get clowned for shooting free throws underhand.

this isn't golf where old dudes think it's interesting if another old dude uses a putter that jabs into his belly button

also maybe no assistant coach wants to be known as the guy whose solution to a bad free throw shooter was "uhhhh idk how about underhand?"

it'll probably be some wacky dude in college. 7 foot white dude with a mullet or something.

yeah

http://i.imgur.com/iV5GPKt.jpg

grant hill just took a pretty standard fall while driving but if I hit the floor like that when I hit 40 somebody is calling an ambulance. hill just dusts himself off and gets back in transition.

as of right now, spurs are no. 1, thus starting my annual "can they do it again" hope-getting-up delusion

A pitcher can throw a baseball into a space the size of a shoebox at 90mph with spin; being able to wrap your hand around the ball is a positive.

idk man you ever try shooting a tennis ball? it's haaaaard

http://cdn1.sbnation.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/7175601/barealol.0_standard_730.0.gif

not really a flop, just hilar

as of right now, spurs are no. 1, thus starting my annual "can they do it again" hope-getting-up delusion

― pull up to the shrink with my feelings missing (m bison), Sunday, January 27, 2013 11:44 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, think this was answered pretty resoundingly last year. Still, if they ease off the throttle right before the playoffs and make sure the olds are as fresh as possible, lord knows they can beat any team in the league. Can't remember how much they rested everyone before last year's playoffs, although the whole season was so weird prep-wise that it's probably not the most accurate predictor.

still think the conventional wisdom that the spurs' age caught up to them in the playoffs is BS. they won 20 games in a row before that, they were due for a cold stretch. and look at the way they're playing this year. just bad luck imo

i think it's less their age and less a "cold stretch" and more that the thunder just had the three best players on the floor including the undisputed second best player in the world

i think the series was mostly about speed/athleticism which you codes as "age"

you